The temptation at a moment like this is twofold. Unable to see our way forward, we can give into despair. We can also succumb to optimism -- to the false hope that, against the odds, we will triumph as a nation or as the human race.

The point is not that Televangelists are scoundrels, or that many Christian pastors are hypocrites, but that these grand ministry failures represent examples of what many mainstream churches have, in desperation, come to believe is relevant.

What began as a humorous look at a troubling phenomenon took a serious turn when the U.S. economy tanked in 2008. Prosperity preaching wasn't just something to report on; it was a personal attack on Zacharias' faith.

I believe that in evolution itself we can find what God wants. Even as we wreak havoc on the ecosystem, produce more babies than we can feed, and go to war against one another, the call echoes forth: keep life alive.

What if the consensus about the prosperity Gospel is wrong? What if it actually hastens development, fosters upward social mobility, and makes great strides in establishing a middle class in impoverished nations?

The error of the protagonist of the Parable of the Fool was not only to imagine that his life and security could be found in affluence, but that his things actually belonged to him, that he actually owned them.